Wanted
by erm31323
Summary: Written for Round 3 of the QLFC - Astoria has always wanted to fly on a Muggle airplane and Draco wants to give her everything she wants. Things do not go to plan, however, as they board the ill-fated Concorde flight in July 2000. And sometimes recovering means needing reassurance from those we love.


**A/N - This was written for Round 3 of the QLFC. We all had history prompts this round I had to write about the destruction of a vessel or aircraft. **

**I chose the Concorde crash from July 2000. Air France flight 4590 was heading from Paris to New York and was chartered by a German cruise ship company. There were a variety of reasons that factored into it, but the plane lost altitude shortly after take-off and crashed into a hotel near the airport.**

**The title comes from the song of the same name by Hunter Hayes, which I happened to be listening to as I was finishing writing and I thought it fitting.**

**I own neither the song nor Harry Potter.**

**Word Count - 3167 before author's note**

* * *

**Wanted**

Draco waited at the end of the path from Hogwarts for Astoria to arrive. He looked over the crowd of students as they made their way down the lane to the village. When she finally came into view, a wide smile spread across his face. She caught sight of him as well and began to walk toward him as quickly as possible. When she reached him, her cheeks were flushed and she grinned up at him. Throwing propriety aside, Draco grabbed her around the waist and swung her around, then kissed her soundly.

"Draco!" she exclaimed somewhat breathlessly as he set her on her feet.

"What?" he asked innocently, tucking her hand into the crook of his arm and leading her into Hogsmeade. She shook her head fondly and said nothing else, but leaned into him slightly. They walked in silence for a few moments before he addressed her again.

"I have a surprise for you," he said.

"You spoil me too much," she replied, but her eyes were alight with excitement. He chuckled.

"It's actually a graduation gift of sorts," he continued. She looked at him expectantly. "Mother would like you to come for a visit at the villa in July. Father's confinement to the Manor will be over by then."

"That sounds lovely," Astoria said immediately, but he could see the hint of disappointment in her eyes. No matter how she was able to school her features, he could still read everything in her eyes. She had visited the French house the previous summer, so it wasn't new to her. Draco smirked.

"And I thought that perhaps you might want to take a small side trip while we are there," he said.

"Side trip?" she questioned, intrigued once again.

"To New York," Draco continued nonchalantly.

"New York?" Astoria repeated clearly surprised. Draco nodded.

"On the Concorde," he added his face maintaining the same calm, unaffected expression he'd learned during the war. Astoria stopped dead in her tracks forcing Draco to stop as well. She gaped at him, a very unladylike expression on her face. Draco held back his laughter by the slimmest of margins.

"The Concorde?" she whispered. For whatever reason, Astoria was fascinated with Muggle airplanes. Draco didn't understand it and the last thing he ever thought he would do was voluntarily sit inside a metal tube made by Muggles that somehow stayed in the air _without magic_. But Astoria wanted nothing more than to ride on one and for her, he would do anything. At least it was the Concorde, which he'd been told was the fastest of all the Muggle airplanes, the reason why he'd chosen it. He nodded again.

She stared at him for a few seconds and then flung herself into his arms with a squeal. Draco knew the passing students were staring at them, but he didn't care. He laughed and her eyes were shining brightly when he looked down at her. He couldn't help but kiss her again.

"I take it this means you're pleased," he said when he released her.

"It's the most wonderful present Draco," she agreed eyes dancing with happiness. He took her hand and kissed the back of it, then tucked it back into his arm and they continued on their way, Astoria chattering on about the trip.

* * *

"Draco," Lucius said as he came into the room, frown on his face.

"Yes, Father," Draco replied, directing the last of this things into the trunk at the foot of his bed. The simple trip to New York had turned into a much longer holiday than he had anticipated. The Greengrasses had not been inclined to allow their unmarried daughter to travel alone with Draco, fiancé or not. They had finally relented to meet the couple in New York, scheduled to arrive by International Portkey shortly before the Concorde flight. However, instead of a few days in the city as Draco had planned, they were all going on some infernal cruise ship to Ecuador for sixteen days. A _Muggle_ cruise ship at that. While Draco was willing to sacrifice by taking the airplane, he did not relish being in the company of Muggles for more than two weeks and unable to use any magic.

"Since I cannot seem to talk you out of this ridiculous notion to take that absurd Muggle contraption," Lucius' voice dripped with disdain, "I want you to take this and keep it on your person at all times." He handed over a small pocket watch fob. It was a snake formed into the letter "M". Draco looked at it in confusion.

"I don't have a pocket watch Father," he said. Lucius sighed.

"I am aware of that Draco," he replied, his voice clipped. "It is a Portkey." Draco looked up at him in surprise. "It will return you and anyone you are holding onto to the Manor. You only need be touching it and speak the password and it will activate immediately."

"What is the password?" Draco asked taking the fob from his father.

"Sanctimonia," Lucius answered. Draco gave his father a wry smile.

"I had to choose something you would not say in casual conversation," Lucius sniffed unapologetically.

"And 'purity' in Latin was the only thing you could think of eh?" Draco said snidely. Lucius crossed his arms and glared at his son. Draco chuckled and tucked the fob into the pocket of his trousers. "Thank you Father." Lucius gave him a curt nod.

"Have you finished darling?" Narcissa asked coming into Draco's room as well. "Astoria is waiting in the salon."

"I still do not understand why you did not allow the House elves to take care of this for you," Lucius drawled, waving a hand at Draco's open trunk. Draco bit back a sigh.

"Because Father, we must dress like Muggles for the trip and Liddy has absolutely no idea what that means," Draco said for what seemed like the hundredth time. "It's just easier to do it myself."

"I have no idea what has gotten into Carlton. Travelling with Muggles," Lucius muttered. His lip curled in disgust. Narcissa gave him a quelling look.

"Come Lucius, let us entertain Astoria while Draco finishes his packing," Narcissa said in a tone that brokered no room for argument. Draco hid a grin at the tongue-lashing he was sure he father was about to receive. Lucius glanced warily at his wife before following her from the room.

* * *

The grin on Astoria's face was wide enough to quash any remaining reservations Draco might have had about the airplane. It was surprisingly comfortable and there were only two seats on each side, so Draco did not have to sit next to anyone besides his fiancé. The solicitousness of the woman who had brought them drinks as an apology for the long delay had helped as well. Draco gave Astoria the seat by the window as he truly had no desire to watch them leave the ground.

"Are you sure you don't want to look?" Astoria asked as they finally began to move.

"No," Draco assured her. She giggled and he looked at her expectantly. "What's funny?"

"You fly and do the most mad stunts on your broom," she said her voice dropped to a whisper. "But you're afraid to look out the window of an airplane." Draco looked affronted.

"I am not afraid," he insisted. Astoria just smiled and squeezed his arm. Draco tried to glower and thought about pulling his arm away from her, but she had snaked hers through his and taken his hand, so he didn't. He leaned his head back against the seat and with his free hand, fingered the fob in his pocket.

The airplane picked up speed and Astoria was watching raptly out the window. Draco swallowed nervously and gripped the fob in his pocket a little tighter, all the while forcing his other hand, which still held Astoria's, to remain relaxed. After a few moments, Astoria gasped.

"What?" Draco demanded and she turned and looked at him in confusion.

"There's a fire," she said fearfully.

"A fire?" Draco repeated. "What are you talking about?" She looked back out the window and yelped.

"Over the wing, a fire," she said her voice beginning to shake.

"But, but, that's not," Draco trailed off, his eyes wide. "A fire?" More of the passengers seemed to realize something wasn't right as nearly everyone on their side of the plane was craning their necks to see out their own windows. A disembodied voice filled the air, but Draco couldn't concentrate on what it was saying. A fire?

The airplane continued to fly and they left the ground, but it wasn't the smooth ascent that Draco had been led to believe would occur. They shimmied and shook and Astoria gripped his hand harder, still staring transfixed, out the window. Someone screamed and the voice came again, telling everyone to remain calm, that they were going to land again soon at some other place that was not New York.

Draco was frozen in fear. Surely this was not how it was supposed to be. This was not what was supposed to happen. A shriek from Astoria finally brought him from his stupor. He looked at her and large tears were making their way down her face.

"I'm sorry," she sobbed and he didn't understand why she was sorry exactly because this was definitely not her fault. She threw both arms around his neck. "I love you Draco." He wrapped his arms around her automatically, his right hand still holding the fob that his father had given him and he realized that she didn't know about the Portkey. As the plane gave one more almighty lurch and began to drop at a rate faster than Draco could have imagined possible, he gripped Astoria tighter.

"Hold on," he whispered. "Sanctimonia." The last thing Draco heard was a huge bang before they disappeared.

* * *

She was screaming when they landed and it wasn't until he heard his father shout that he realized it wasn't out of fear. He looked down at her and one side of her face was bright red and her hair, sweet Merlin her hair.

"Narcissa!" his father bellowed as he knelt next to the two of them. His mother ran into the room and gasped, her hand flying to her mouth before she dropped to her knees next to her husband.

"Lucius, the salve, the potions, go, now," she ordered and Lucius rose and ran from the room, looking very undignified in Draco's opinion. Draco looked back down at the woman in his arms whose screams had now tapered off to whimpers.

"Mother?" Draco said in confusion.

"Draco, let go of her," Narcissa instructed. "Lay her down here on the carpet."

"No," Draco insisted clutching Astoria tighter to him, sending off a new round of whimpers.

"Darling please," Narcissa said gently. "You are hurting her. Let me help her." Draco immediately eased Astoria down to the floor, never wanting to hurt her in any way, getting another look at her face as he did so. She was crying and he raised his hand to wipe the tears but his mother batted it away. "You cannot touch her, not right now."

Lucius came back into the room, a basket of vials and jars in his hand. He handed it to his wife, who immediately plucked two vials from the array and got Astoria to drink them. She pulled out a jar and began to gently spread the cream inside on Astoria's face. She screamed again and Draco lunged forward, stopped only by Lucius' arm like a steel band around his chest.

"Let your mother help her, son," Lucius said.

"Father, Father, she," Draco choked unable to continue.

"I know," Lucius soothed. "I know." Narcissa glanced at them and her eyes widened.

"Lucius, his arm," she said. Lucius looked down and saw the angry red flesh of his son's arm exposed where his shirt had burned away. He summoned another jar and pulled Draco to the sofa, forcing him to sit before kneeling in front of him and applying the burn salve. Draco winced, but his eyes never left his mother and Astoria, who seemed to have fainted.

"What happened?" Lucius asked tersely once he'd finished with the salve.

"I don't know," Draco replied, raking a hand through his hair. "There was a fire and then the plane just," he trailed off. "I don't know." Lucius' eyes grew hard and he worked his jaw. Draco knew he wanted to hex someone and truthfully Draco wanted to do the same. The problem was he didn't think there was anyone left to hex. The reality of the situation finally overwhelmed him and Draco began to shake. They'd almost, if his father hadn't given him that Portkey they'd…he shook his head, not wanting to think about it.

Lucius summoned another vial and held it to Draco's lips. Draco dutifully drank it and the last thing he saw before the blackness swallowed him was Astoria's gleaming, chestnut hair and the large spot where it was missing from her head.

* * *

Draco started awake and saw his mother sitting by his bedside. He sat up quickly and ignored the slight throbbing in his arm.

"Where is she?" he demanded.

"Her parents arrived and took her home," Narcissa informed him.

"How is she?" Draco asked next.

"She will be fine," his mother said, but Draco could tell she was hiding something.

"Mother," he said in a warning tone.

"There will likely be some scarring on her face," Narcissa said quietly.

"I don't care about that," Draco insisted.

"No," his mother told him. "But she does." Draco was silent for a moment.

"I want to see her," he requested. Narcissa shook her head.

"No, my dragon, let her be for now," she replied, cupping his cheek in her hand. "She needs time."

* * *

"Please," Draco was practically begging, something he would never, ever do for anyone else, especially to a house elf. "It's been nearly a week." Nearly a week without seeing her and knowing how she was, a week looking at that same photograph in the Muggle newspaper he had hidden in his room, a week knowing that no one survived the crash save them.

"I is sorry Master Draco, but I has my orders," Noddy said sadly.

"Draco," Lucretia Greengrass greeted, coming gracefully down the stairs.

"Mrs. Greengrass," Draco replied. "Please, may I see Astoria?" She looked at him sadly for a moment, then seemed to come to a decision.

"Yes, follow me," she turned and went back up the stairs, Draco following quickly behind. She stopped at a door and motioned for Draco to remain in the corridor, then slipped inside. Draco heard raised voices, then nothing, until Astoria's mother came back to the door. She allowed him to enter and then quietly left.

Astoria was standing and looking out the window, her back to him. Her arms were at her sides and her hands were fisted, her knuckles white.

"Astoria," he said, but she did not turn around.

"I told my mother I didn't want to see anyone," she snapped.

"Not even me?" he asked in surprise.

"Especially not you," she nearly whispered and Draco could hear the hitch in her voice. Draco walked slowly towards her and she tensed at his approach. He stopped a foot away.

"Astoria, turn around," he pleaded. She did and he was shocked to see that she looked exactly as she always had. But his mother had said…he looked back at her. "Drop the glamour."

"No," she said flatly. He brought a hand to her cheek but she flinched away from him before he could touch her.

"Stori, I don't care," he said softly. "Please let me see." She shook her head violently and began to cry. He cupped her face between his palms and she finally allowed it. "Please." She stared at him for a few moments, crying silently. And then sniffling, she raised her wand and uttered 'Finite'. A jagged red line appeared beneath his hand and he took it away to see the other scars that littered her cheeks and jaw. There was a large bald patch of skin on the side of her head above her ear where she had lost her hair. He ran his fingertips lightly over the lines on her face.

"Do they hurt?" he asked. She shook her head.

"Not anymore," she said.

"You're beautiful," he said and she pulled away from him, waving her wand again and recasting the glamour.

"Please go Draco," she said turning back to the window.

"Why?" he asked.

"I'm not beautiful and you know it," she snapped. He walked forward and put his hands on her shoulders. She made to move, but he wouldn't let her go. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back to lean against him.

"Your hair will grow back," he said.

"They don't know that for sure," she said, tears still running down her face. "And the scars."

"Don't matter," Draco interrupted. "I love you Stori and I don't care if you're completely bald and have an eye like Professor Moody." She snorted at that and Draco smiled, squeezing her tighter. "You've never cared about this," he indicated the Dark Mark which still remained on his skin. "Why should I care about a few scars on your face?"

"I care," she whispered. He hugged her to him again.

"I know," he replied, kissing her temple. "I'm sorry." She turned in his arms and looked at him in confusion.

"For what?" she asked.

"For not reacting sooner with the Portkey," he said. "For suggesting this whole thing in the first place." She put a finger to his lips before he could say anything else.

"It's not your fault," she insisted. "My parents were the ones that changed the date. If they hadn't we wouldn't have even been on that flight. Do you blame them? Or me? I'm the one that wanted to fly in an airplane in the first place."

"Of course not," he said.

"Then why do you blame yourself?" she questioned. Draco said nothing, just shrugged his shoulders. "Well, don't."

"Only if you stop being daft about your face," he returned. She smiled slightly, a slight blush coloring her cheeks. "You know, we got all of Uncle Sev's potions Potions' books and research after he was killed. I know he had a salve for scars. Better than anything than St. Mungo's could give you. I can brew it for you." She smiled wider and then wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I love you," she said. He kissed her softly and then hugged her.

"Astoria," he said after a few minutes.

"Yes," she returned, not lifting her head from his shoulder.

"Please tell me we're done with Muggle airplanes," he said. She chuckled.

"Yes, I'd say we are," she agreed.

"Thank Merlin," he said, then proceeded to kiss her thoroughly.

* * *

**Sanctimonia is on the Malfoy family crest - Sanctimonia Vincet Semper - Purity will always conquer.**


End file.
